Running board for railway cars



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 D. w. HAWKSWORTH RUNNINGY'BOARD FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed April 21, 19:57

Oct. 17,1939.

' INVENTOR 0 DAVID w. HAwKs'vmRTH ATTORNEYS Oct. 17, 1939. D. w. HAWKSWORTH RUNNING BOARD FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed April 21, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR DAVD W. HAWKSWORTH ATTORNEYS NdE Patented Oct. 17, 1939 UNHTED stares PATENT @FHQE RUNNING BOARD FOR RAILWAY CARS Application April 21, 1937, Serial No. 138,271

4 Claims.

The invention relates to running boards designed for use on railway cars and has more particular reference to a construction applicable to car roofs formed of welded sheets. Heretofore running boards have been mounted on this type of car roof through the medium of saddles of angle cross section having a vertical portion which extends between the abutting portions of adjacent sheets and is welded thereto, and a horizontal portion which serves as a support for the running board. The running boards of the usual wooden or plank type are secured to these horizontal flanges by'bolting or other suitable means.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to obtain a construction of all-metalrunning board which is formed in sections of standard length, and is supported upon saddles secured between adjacent sheets. Inasmuch as the sheets are of standard width the running board sections are of a length either the Same as this width or a multiple thereof, and the abutting ends of adjacent sections are supported on the same saddle. In order that these may be symmetrically arranged the saddle is modified in construction from that which has heretofore been used, being provided with a laterally ofiset upper portion of the riser and a flange projecting horizontally from this offset portion so as to extend substantially equally on opposite sides of the plane of the lower vertical portion of the saddle. Thus the ends of the running board sections will be in the plane of the joints between roofing sheets. The saddle has also been otherwise modified and the running boards are of peculiar construction. The invention, therefore, consists in this novel construction as hereinafter set forth.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a cross section through a portion of a car roof showing my improved running board and the. supporting saddle mounted there- Figure 2 is a longitudinal section through portions of adjacent running board sections and the saddle for supporting the same;

Figure 3 is a View similar to Figure 2 illustrating the end section of the running board which extends beyond the end of the car body;

Figure 4 is a plan view of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a plan View of a portion of Figure 1;

Figures 6, '7, 8, 9 and 10 are views similar respectively to Figures 1, 5, 2, 4 and 3, showing modified constructions.

The type of car roof to which my improved running board is applied is one having a series of roofing sheets, preferably extending from eaves to eavesjand having vertical flanges along their adjacent edges which are welded to each other. i 5 The saddles for supporting the running boards are formed of sheet metal having Vertical webs extending between the abutting flanges of the sheets, which latter are preferably oiiset to provide space for receiving said webs. 'To form a 10 weatherproof joint, it is necessary to weld around both sides and ends of this web, this also securing it in position and sustaining the load. Usually the web is of uniform width, this being the same as the width of the running board. However, with my improved construction I have limited the width of the portion of the saddle which extends between and is welded to the sheets, thereby lessening the length of the welds with=-a corresponding economy in cost of con- 'str'uction.

As shown, A and A are adjacent roofing sheets provided with downturned flanges B and B. C is the saddle which has an upper portion 0' of a width substantially the same as that of the running boards and a lower portion 0 of a lesser width; these portions beingfconnected by the obliquely inclined portion'C 'forming a bracket or brace; Thus the length of weld is only that of the narrow portion C which is considerably less than the width of the portion C. The saddle C is also formed with a portion C which is laterally oifset fromthe plane of the lower portion 0 and is then return-bent at C to form a horizontal flange 0 extending substantially equally upon opposite sides of the plane of the web. At opposite ends of this horizontal portion of the saddle are downturned flanges C and at intermediate points are slots C which latter also extend downward into the portion C and are adapted to receive flanges of the running board.

The running board sections D are preferably of inverted channel cross section and the top portion is preferably provided with a multiplicity of apertures surrounded by upwardly extending short flanges or burrs D. This will give a roughened surface to insure a better foothold and will also lighten the structure. At certain points apertures D without the surrounding flanges are provided for drainage of water from the upper surface. The width of these running board sections is preferably less than the entire width of the running board and as illustrated there are three sections arranged side by side to form the entire width. Each of these sections has the downturned flanges D at opposite sides thereof and which engage the slots C in the saddles C. The running board sections may be formed from rolled stock which therefore will be of uniform width. The saddles are formed by dies and, therefore, the dimension between the flange C" and one side of the slot C can be made to exactly correspond to the width of the running board. This permits of securing the ends of the running board sections to the saddles by welding, as indicated at E and E, Figure l. The several'sections which are arranged side by side are also spaced from each other to leave an opening F through which water may drain off from the boards.

The length of these sections is as before stated, either the same or a multiple of the width of a roofing sheet i. e. the distance longitudinally of the car between opposite edges of each sheet. As a specific example the length of each section 'may be twice the width of the sheet so that saddles may be placed betweenalternate sheets to support the adjacent ends of abutting sections. This will produce a symmetrical arrangement throughout the length of the car with the exception of the opposite end sheets thereof. To complete the running board, end sections G are providedwhich extend over the end sheets and beyond thesame for a suitable distance. A saddle H secured to the end of the car and having an angle flange I-I serves to support these end' sections and a transversely extending angle flange I secured to the undersides of the sections at the extreme outer end serves to impart the necessary strength and rigidity.

The construction as described is one which can be manufactured at low cost as it utilizes rolled stock for forming the running board sections cut into the standard 7 lengths. The saddles are easil formed and because of the diminished width of the lower web portions thereof, they may be welded to the roof sheets 'at less cost than with construction heretofore used. All of the intermediate sections of the running board are of the same length, while the end sections are equal in length to each other.

'In the modified constructions illustrated in Figures 6 to 10 inclusive, instead of forming the running board sections of rolled channel members which are of the same cross section throughout their length, these sections I are formed of pressed sheet metal having depending flanges I extending between saddles with end portions flattened out, as indicated at I to rest-upon the horizontal flanges C This avoids the necessity of slotting the saddles-to receive the flanges, and also the flattened-out portions increase the width so as to space the central portions from each other. They are then Welded to the saddle as indicated at J, otherwise the construction is similar to that previously described.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a running board construction for car roofs, the combination with adjacent roofing sheets extending transversely of the car roof, of a saddle having a vertical web portion extending between and welded to the adjacent transverse edges of said sheets and a portion laterally oflset from the vertical plane of said web portion return-bent to form a horizontal flange, said flange extending upon opposite sides of said plane of the web, and aligned running board sections extending longitudinally of the roof supported upon and secured to said horizontal flange with the joint therebetween in the plane of the web, the length of said running board sections being a substantially exact multiple of the length longitudinally of the car of each sheet.

2. The combination with a car roof including a series of transversely extending roofing sheets having abutting edges welded to each other, of running board saddles each provided with a vertical web portion extending between and welded to adjacent transverse edges of said roofing sheets the upper portion of said saddle being laterally olfset from the vertical plane thereof and return-bent to form a horizontal portion extending on opposite sides of the plane of the web, and aligned running board sections extending longitudinally of the roof supported on and secured to said saddles, the length of said running board sections being a multiple of the length longitudinally of the car between adjacent sheets, and the joints between aligned running board sections being in the planes of the joints between sheets, and end running board sections extending from the joint between the last sheet and adjacent'sheet at each end of the car, said sections extending beyond the ends of the car and being of a length equal to each other.

3. In a running board construction for car roofs, the combination with spaced saddles extending transversely of the car roof each having a vertical web portion and a horizontal flange, of a plurality of running board sections resting on said saddles and extending longitudinally of the car roof, each section having depending edge flanges between saddles flattened out in the end portions thereof which rest upon said saddles thereby spacing the portions between saddles from each other.

4. In a running board construction for car roofs, the combination of spaced saddles extending transversely of the car roof each having a vertical web portion and a portion laterally offset from the plane of said web portion returnbent to form a horizontal flange which extends upon opposite sides of the plane of the web, and a plurality of parallel running board sections resting on said saddles and extending longitudinally of the car roof, each section provided with down-turned edge flanges in the portions extending between said saddles with the end portions thereof flattened out to rest upon said horizontal flange and terminating in the plane of said vertical web, said flattened portions of adjacent sections abutting against each other and being welded to the horizontal flanges of the saddle thereby spacing the portions of said sections between saddles from each other.

DAVID W. HAWKSWORTH. 

